Evergreen Elm residents and gardeners, Randy Johnson, far left, and Patty Price apply BD Field and Garden Spray ( created by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer and now made by Hugh J. Courtney ) , to the plants at the biodynamic garden on Elm Street as supervisor Brandi Buck looks on.

Due to the unseasonably long, warm fall last year, master gardener L.A. Rotheraine and the gardeners at Evergreen Elm had to change their approach slightly this year when starting their plants.

The group, however, is expecting the same phenomenal results they have always had with their biodynamic gardens.

"The reason no agricultural university in the Western Hemisphere can compete against Evergreen Elm's biodynamic gardeners within the confines of McKean County," Rotheraine said, are the sprays they use. For example, while other gardeners use the BD Field and Garden Spray only as a field spray, Evergreen Elm uses it as a foliar spray as well. This, in addition to the unorthodox way they use the biodynamic compost preparations produces superior vegetation, Rotheraine said.

He went on to compare biodynamic gardening to modern agriculture, emphasizing their incorporation of cosmic energy-energy from the stars and planets.

"The connection to the heavens is in the central stem of all plants," Rotheraine went on to say, referring to the stem as a "cosmic pipeline," or a "heavenly circuit."

"The biodynamic preparations intensify these heavenly currents or cosmic threads, thus uniting the heavens with Earth in a very beneficial way," he said. "Agricultural science has forgotten that all plants are materialized energy from stars and planets. It is common sense to see that the sun, moon and all the stars and planets have an effect on plant life on Earth. As a photographer knows every light effects a picture, therefore every light in the sky would have to effect plant growth to a greater or lesser degree."

Referring specifically to the effect the strange weather last fall had on gardening this spring, Rotheraine said the soil is much dryer than it would normally be at this time of year.

"Therefore, we are using the unorthodox technique of using the BD Field and Garden Spray as a leaf spray," he said. By spraying the soil and plants as they do, however, they are "actually changing the climatic conditions in the garden."

Normally, they would use a combination of horn silica and valerian flower concentrate for spray. Instead, they are using the field spray - comprised of seven preparation components, what Rotheraine refers to as "BD prep 500, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506 and 507" - exclusively this spring. Respectively, the substances are horn manure, yarrow flowers, chamomile flowers, stinging nettle, oak bark, dandelion flowers and valerian flowers.

It is not only the spray, however, that makes the garden so successful, Rotheraine said.

"The enthusiasm of Evergreen Elm's biodynamic gardeners becomes an actual force just like our preparations do and has a tremendous positive effect on the plants," he said.

While some may debate the theory behind Rotheraine's methods, what cannot be refuted are his results. For years, the group has taken dozens of blue ribbons at the McKean County Fair for their fruits and vegetables. Rotheraine, Evergreen Elm and the biodynamic gardens have also been featured on local television news and in newspapers as far away as Michigan because of the unusually high quality of their seed strains, plants and harvests.

"Until other gardeners and farmers use Evergreen Elm's biodynamic system, they will never achieve the results our gardeners have accomplished," Rotheraine said.

He seemed particularly pleased that master gardeners at two Midwestern colleges, the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin, are both currently experimenting with Evergreen Elm's methods. He is also hopeful that biodynamic gardening is becoming popular worldwide, as they group has seen a large number of hits on their Web site from Communist China.

"So, we're putting some of our key articles in Chinese hoping they will (use) the Evergreen Elm method of making seeds instead of being swayed into genetically-engineered and terminator seeds that the large corporations are trying to propagate throughout the world," Rotheraine said.

"If a seed strain is a replica of a particular cosmic constellation, then genetically altering a seed makes it inferior," he said, compared to what it could be - "a heavenly image in the form of a plant here on Earth."

Evergreen Elm supervisor Brandi Buck said that not only do the gardeners produce a spectacular garden, but the garden gives back to its creators and keepers.

"There is a therapeutic aspect of gardening for the individuals at Evergreen Elm," Buck said. "It helps with aggression and obsessive compulsive disorder," adding the repetitious nature of the tasks calms the clients at Evergreen Elm - an agency that specializes in the care and therapy of those diagnosed with mental health illness or mental retardation.

Some clients, due to their diagnoses, tend to binge eat, for example. Tending the garden allows them to better understand the nutritional value of what they are growing. It also helps with finger dexterity, she said, as well as giving them a reason to be outside getting exercise in the sunlight, which naturally combats depression.

Harvesting the gardens and taking home all those blue ribbons also fills them with a sense of pride and accomplishment, she said.

"Each individual here can tell you what they do in the garden and why," Buck said. Some of the clients at Evergreen Elm have been working with Rotheraine in the garden for decades, she added. "It's a huge benefit for them."

Tomatoes & Charles Darwin - L.A. Rotheraine & Charles Darwin

Postscript: Three months after "Garden of Wonders" appeared in The Bradford Era

Some members of Evergreen Elm's Biodynamic gardening team pose for us at their garden location in Bradford, PA on August 24th. The gardeners won big again in the August 2007 McKean County Fair competition. They won 24 first
place blue ribbons, one third place white and two fourth place yellow ribbons out of 29 entries during the fair. Their Master Gardener, L.A. Rotheraine attributed their success this year to teamwork, hard work, and the Biodynamic Field and Garden Spray ( created by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer and now made by Hugh J. Courtney ). Of the 24 blues, says Rotheraine, the most important for all biodynamic and organic growers throughout the world is the first place taken in the cherry tomato competition. Our Selke Biodynamic Cherry Tomato has become the standard bearer against the genetic engineering and terminator seed companies. It cannot be duplicated by the technology these companies use. Only the biodynamic agricultural science as deployed by Evergreen Elm and our special method of producing tomato seeds can create this superior plant. One can picture all seeds as crystallized energy from different stars or groups of stars, each plant species an earthly replica of its heavenly source. It's important to remember, however, that the success of all our winning entries was assured through the use of the Biodynamic Field and Garden Spray and the unselfish efforts and dedication of Evergreen Elm's gardening team and their rigorous adherence to chemical free growing methods.Pictured from the left, holding their tools and ribbons are Jackie Wolfe, Robert Tubbs, Betty Bailey, Jim Oehler, Randy Johnson, Supervisor Brandi Buck, Lisa Williams holding Frankie the garden cat, and Patty Price.

From left, biodynamic gardeners Jim Oehler, L.A. Rotheraine, standing on ladder, Jeff Van Scooter and Brandi Buck stand in front of a 10 foot tall cherry tomato plant on Wednesday afternoon at the Evergreen Elm garden on
Elm Street. Rotheraine claims it is the strongest tomato plant on the Planet Earth. “With all the billions
of dollars that the genetic engineering seed companies spend, they cannot come close to producing
the unique seed that Evergreen Elm makes to create this plant,” Rotheraine said. Evergreen Elm
Executive Director Garry Pugrant said the agency has seeds available from the giant tomato plant.
Donations would be accepted.

L.A. Rotheraine (at top of plant), Randy Johnson (middle) and Brandi Buck (right) supervisor, look over the 10 1/2 foot organic, cherry tomato plant. If there is no frost in the near future, the plant could reach 12 to 13 feet tall with over 2,000 tomatoes on it.

The plant was grown at Evergreen Elm's garden on Elm Street and is an open pollinated Selke Biodynamic, Organic Cherry Tomato Plant.

Evergreen Elm has the only seed strain in the world for this species of plant.

The plant was cared for by Evergreen Elm's gardeners, particularly Robert Tubbs, who was in charge of all the Selke Organic, Cherry Tomato plants.